PhD candidate: Development of novel bioderived monomers and conversion into high-performance polymers

Organisation/Company

University of Tartu

Department

Institute of Technology

Research Field

Chemistry » Organic chemistry
Technology » Materials technology
Engineering » Materials engineering

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Positions

PhD Positions

Application Deadline

27 Feb 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Tallinn)

Country

Estonia

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

40

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Tartu University, Institute of Technology is looking for a candidates to fill a 4 year PhD position in the field of chemistry/polymer synthesis.

Tartu University is the leading university in Estonia and the only Baltic university among 1% of the world’s best universities (based on QS World University Ranking). It has around 14 000 students and 3000 employees. More info about the university can be found here: https://ut.ee/en/home

Subject area and duties: The candidate for the PhD position is expected to conduct research on the synthesis of novel monomers and polymers for high-performance applications from bio-derived building blocks. The work involves chemical synthesis of monomers, polymerization, and characterization of both monomers and polymers. 

Part of the work will be carried out in collaboration with Lund University, Sweden (prof. Patric Jannasch)

Selected recent publications by the Lauri Vares group:

https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202401239

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c00747

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.163525

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c07048

https://doi.org/10.1039/D0GC00849D

Profile of Lauri Vares (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VRczgu0AAAAJ ) and Patric Jannasch (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=OEN-Xa8AAAAJ ).

The successful candidate works in a team, but also develops her/his own research approaches and ideas in the subject area. The sustainability and ecotoxicity of the developed polymers will also be evaluated.

The successful candidate should hold an MSc or equivalent degree, or be expected to receive one by mid-June 2026. Background in organic chemistry, characterization of organic compounds, polymer chemistry, or other related areas is required. 

Good English language skills are required.

Assessment criteria: The primary criteria are the applicant's qualifications, motivation, and ability to engage with the research field.

Place of studies, duration: Tartu, Estonia (partially Lund, Sweden). The position is for 4 years, starting in September 2026. Starting monthly salary ~2300€ (bruto).

E-mail

lauri.vares@ut.ee

Research Field

Chemistry » Organic chemistry

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

The successful candidate should hold an MSc or equivalent degree, or be expected to receive one by June 2026. Background in organic chemistry, characterization of organic compounds, polymer chemistry, or other related areas is required. 

Good English language skills are required.

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Good

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Institute of Technology

Country

Estonia

Geofield

City

Tartu

Website

https://tuit.ut.ee/en

Street

Nooruse 1

Postal Code

50411

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